{"id":3031,"date":"2009-11-16T09:44:33","date_gmt":"2009-11-16T14:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/37d57f8fa2.nxcli.io\/blog\/?p=3031"},"modified":"2009-11-14T14:01:47","modified_gmt":"2009-11-14T19:01:47","slug":"twitter-pr-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/public-relations\/twitter-pr-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Top Twitter Tools For Free Publicity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Long before social media became a buzz word, businesses understood the power of publicity. After all, the costs of driving publicity are generally less than those of traditional advertising, with even greater rewards.<\/p>\n

People automatically place more value on what a reporter has to say about your company compared to the company’s own spokesperson. Publicity can improve search engine rankings, empower employees, and reach a wider audience than traditional advertising.<\/p>\n

With all of its advantages, it simply makes sense that businesses of any size would seek positive publicity: with the advent of Twitter, doing so can be that much easier. Certainly, you must still have legitimate messages and news to share, Twitter can’t help you there, but as a tool for reaching out to reporters, bloggers, and key influencers, Twitter is rapidly becoming a necessity.<\/p>\n

To do so, start by getting on Twitter and simply understanding the tool. That’s an entirely different discussion that we won’t go into here, but it simply requires creating an account, finding some people to follow, and periodically entering an idea or status.<\/p>\n

Once you’re comfortable using the tool, seek out those people who may be interested in the news of your business and follow them. There are many directories that have been developed to aid you in your serach. Three that are well populated include:<\/p>\n

1) Muck Rack<\/a> – Great tool for locating journalists who are on Twitter. You can find them by the type of information they report on or by their news organization. Even better, you can use the site to “tweet” your press releases to them.<\/p>\n

2) MediaOntwitter<\/a> – A database of media contacts who use Twitter. Sometimes, this site can take some digging: people are arranged by country and then alphabetically by the name of their media outlet. But, it’s a growing list and you will be able to locate the person’s Twitter name through this list.<\/p>\n

3) WeFollow<\/a> – This database is made up of anyone (not strictly media) who chooses to add themselves. People choose their current location and five “categories” that describe themselves. What’s useful about this is that you may be able to connect with people who are outside of the traditional media realm, such as bloggers.<\/p>\n

From here, it’s time to “engage” your new followers. Engaging means having online conversations with your followers. You want them to read what you have to say and write back or forward your comments along.<\/p>\n

Be very aware that “engaging” is NOT simply tossing out comments about your business only. This can and will be done (maybe once in 10 tweets), but your emphasis should be on cultivating real relationships with people who may one day take an interest in your business.<\/p>\n

Give it time, reach out, and establish some new online relationships through Twitter. In time, the information that you do share about your business through Twitter will weave its way into the media streams, generating that much sought after publicity for your business.<\/p>\n

– Rachel<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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